Author’s note:
This is the real story of what happened in Last Knight, which
was never shown to us. I heard it from Nick himself one
night, when I met him in a dark, dusty inn during one of my
backpacking trips across South East Asia. Don’t tell anyone.

Disclaimer: doesn’t really apply here, but if you insist,
sure, why not: I don’t own them. You know who does, or do
you?

Thanks: as always to Jean Graham for her lightning fast beta
job and for being such a cool friend.

Permissions: given to be posted on the FTP site, whichever
fkfanfic site is currently active, and anyone else who first
asks.

Feedback: Always welcome. Please send to
countessa2000@yahoo.com

LK Confidential(1/7)
By Sunny LaCountess

***********************

“You going to be ok?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m a tough girl. It’s not like it is the
first time.”

“You sure?”

“Oh yeah. Remember? My niece, Calvin, Richard…and that’s just
the past couple of years. I’m good at…dealing.”

“You know that this one was a suicide, Nat. And that… there
is a note… addressed to you. You sure you won’t need any
help?”

“I’m sure, Nick. Don’t worry about me; Lora had always been a
girl with issues, self-destructive tendencies, you know? I’ll
read that note later. Let’s go.”

Natalie got up from the chair and gave Nick a reassuring
smile before walking past him and out of the door. Nick
grabbed his jacket and after checking with Tracy to see if
she was ok finishing up, ran after her. Both their cars were
parked outside the house but the forensics van was blocking
Nat’s car. She shrugged and gave her keys to one of the guys
and told him to take the car back to her apartment when they
were done. They both got in the Caddy and left.

They didn’t speak much during the ride home. Nick noticed the
mood change and tried to lighten it up by talking about
better things. His mind, however, was elsewhere. Nat’s
comment about how many people she had lost in the past had
touched a sore spot deep inside his heart and stirred up
painful memories. He didn’t want to think how right she was,
and she hadn’t even counted Schanke and Capt. Cohen. And how
about him? Still mourning over his partner’s death, and the
others: Alyce, Denise, Charles Du Champs, Marian Blackwing,
to name just the mortals. He thought about the other side of
his ties, the immortals who had thought death would never
come to touch them: Erica, Screed, Urs, Vachon…, the list was
endless. Was it something in his genes?

The thought of Vachon inevitably brought the thought of Tracy
to his mind. She seemed to be holding up well. Nick wasn’t
sure if LaCroix had done as he had promised or not. But what
he could see without prying too close was that Tracy not only
had recovered from the shock of her friend and sometime
lover’s death, her professional attitude, too, had changed
considerably in the recent weeks. She wasn’t the rookie cop
anymore who had to defend her independence and rank every
time her father’s name came up in a conversation. She had
matured throughout the past year and Nick was happy to notice
that. It was good to work with an experienced, self-assured
partner again.

“She’s really doing well, isn’t she?” Natalie said as if
reading Nick’s mind.

“Who, Tracy? Yes, she is. I’m really happy for her. She’s
finally managed to prove that she’s a good cop.”

“So you guys are going to stay together?”

“I guess so. I mean, until it’s time for me to move on. But I
know that won’t be any time soon.”

They reached Natalie’s apartment.

“Sure you don’t want to come up?” she asked.

Nick shook his head, “No. Sun’s going to be up soon. Besides,
I need to get some things done at the loft. Thanks for the
offer, though. Oh, and your phone’s ringing.”

“How can you tell from…? Oh.” She smiled knowingly. “Vampire
hearing, eh? I always forget you’re different.” She leaned
forward and playfully rubbed her nose against his. He
returned the smile and the gesture and they both started
giggling. “Nat, the phone,” Nick whispered. Natalie
straightened up and pushed her hair back from her face. “Ok,
I’ll run. See you tomorrow night.”

“See you Nat, bye.”

He drove away. She ran up to answer the phone.

*********

The next evening Nick was sitting on the curb in front of the
hospital and looking at the empty street in front of him.
There was an ambulance parked at the side of the street,
right in front of the ER entrance. Its lights were flashing
unrelentingly but he couldn’t see any emergency personnel
around; the vehicle looked almost deserted. Where was
everybody? For God’s sake, wasn’t there a patient inside that
car? Or did they carry the patient out when he wasn’t
looking? Nick looked away and shrugged. It wasn’t like it was
his problem.

He felt the chill of the wind and hugged his coat tighter to
his body. He started shivering, and thought about how much he
hated life. In a little over 24 hours his whole world had
collapsed onto itself. Nat, who seemed to have been fine
right after her friend’s suicide, had started talking strange
later in the morgue. Nick couldn’t figure out her change of
attitude at all. What the hell had happened? Just last night
she was telling him she was ok with everything and didn’t
need his help. Today, she was talking about her own thoughts
of suicide and how right the screwed up woman had been. It
didn’t make any sense.

And Tracy…Nick shut his eyes and buried his face in his
folded arms. He didn’t want to think about her. Why, oh why,
Tracy, did you come down to the locker room? Did you forget
all of your training? Didn’t you hear the warnings? I was
already there, why did _you_ have to come down as well? To
get yourself killed?

Now Tracy was lying inside the hospital and Nat was mad at
him because he had intended to bring Tracy across without
thinking how she would feel about it. What's more, she seemed
to be even angrier because he hadn’t offered her the same
thing, which made even less sense. He didn’t seem to be able
to understand her argument. Tracy was dying; Nat was not.

He didn’t raise his head when he heard footsteps approach him
and sensed a pair of pants standing in front of him. Whoever
it was, he’d probably take a look at his mood and continue on
his way.

“You wanna go to a bar?” a voice asked.

Nick shook his head yes, still not looking up.

“Then let’s go. There is one around that corner.”

A gentle hand touched his shoulder. He brushed it off and
stood. The other man was shorter than him, but he held his
head high. He took the lead and Nick followed. What did it
matter? This guy most likely had someone in the hospital too.
He was another person badly in need of a drink to make
himself forget for a while. Well, that made the two of them.

They reached the bar and sat at a table. Nick was quiet. His
companion ordered a beer and looked at Nick.

“A glass of red wine, whatever you have. Thank you,” Nick
said quietly.

The waitress gave him a toothy smile and walked away. In the
time before she came back with the drinks, Nick finally
raised his head and took a closer look at the man sitting
across from him.

He was a middle-aged Asian guy, well-dressed, business suit
and tie. His outfit was expensive. Nick remembered seeing the
light reflect on his polished shoes as they were walking
towards the bar. The guy was a little on the beefy side. His
hair was thinning on top, but whatever was left of it was
neatly combed in place.

The waitress came back with the drinks and set them in front
of the two men. When Nick reached for his wallet, the man
held his wrist. He paid for the drinks and then raised the
bottle. “Cheers!” he said, and took a large gulp from the
beer, bringing the bottle down and wiping his mouth with the
back of his hand.

Nick only sipped a little bit of his wine. He knew he could
tolerate alcohol, but he wasn’t in his best shape and it was
generally not a good idea to get drunk with strangers,
especially if you were a cop. They had been quiet for some
time now. It was time for someone to initiate a conversation,
but he didn’t feel like being the one. To tell the truth, he
didn’t feel like anything.

Finally the man spoke. “Ahh, good beer. They don’t have this
stuff in my neck of the woods.” He looked up, extended his
hand and said, “Hi. My name is Oysn Nobuyuki. It’s a real
pleasure to meet you, Mr. Knight.”

Nick was just about to introduce himself when the words “Mr.
Knight” registered in his brain. What? The guy already knew
his name? That was certainly a surprise!

His companion noticed his bewilderment and said, “Yes, I know
you, Detective Knight, your reputation precedes you far more
than what you may think. You and your partner had been the
best duo of homicide detectives put together since I can
remember. Speaking of whom…I heard that she was shot in the
line of duty tonight. Please accept my most sincere
sympathies.”

“How did you know she was my partner?” Nick had to ask then.
“The news only said a female officer from the 96th precinct.
No word of her rank or that she was my partner.”

“Of course I would know. I know many things, Mr. Knight, the
fate of your partner among them. But let’s put that to the
side for now, shall we? I more like to talk about Dr. Lambert
now. She seems to be upset lately, and not just because of
her friend’s suicide.”

Nick’s eyes widened in shock. His hand gripped the stem of
the wine glass so tightly it snapped. Wine spilled all over
the table and the waitress came running to clean it up.
Neither man paid any attention to her. Oysn took a silk
handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his hand.

“It’s true. I know that for a fact, and please, Mr. Knight,
let’s not get overexcited about things. We don’t want to
attract unwanted attention to ourselves.” The man nodded
toward the waitress who was carrying what was left of the
broken wine glass and leaving their table in a hurry.





LK Confidential (2/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********
Nick’s eyes didn’t leave the man. He asked, “Does Dr. Lambert
know you, Mr. …ah,…” he struggled but couldn’t remember the
name.

“Nobuyuki, but please call me Oysn.”

“Does Dr. Lambert know you, Mr. Oysn?”

“Before I answer that question, I should wonder why it
matters so much to you. What is it about Natalie that gets
you so worked up every time her name comes up? One might
think you have some kind of hidden feelings for her?”

He was grabbed by his collar and pulled out of his chair
roughly before he could completely finish the sentence.  His
eyes met a pair of angry gold orbs and he heard a low
rumbling in the vampire’s chest. Nick’s voice was a menacing
growl in his ear, meant to capture his attention and not draw
in the rest of the bar. “You will come with me, right now,
and not object. We need to have a little talk.” With that, he
was pulled towards the back of the bar and shoved through a
couple of doors. When they walked past the backdoor and into
the dark ally behind the bar, Nick slammed him into the brick
wall across and held him flush against it. In the same
dangerous growl he had used in the bar, only louder this
time, he said, “Ok, now tell me who you really are. And tell
me what you want from Natalie.”

The man’s cool, expressionless eyes stared at Nick with a
hint of amusement. Without saying a word, he reached up and
pried Nick’s hands easily from his throat. Nick looked in
astonishment as the man straightened his clothes and looked
up at him with casual confidence.

“Mr. Knight, you’d better be more careful with your talents.
It’s generally not healthy for one of your kind to be seen in
a public place hypnotizing another man. I told you I know
everything and now I’m telling you I’m impervious to most of
them. Now if you want to hear what I have to tell you, you’d
better get your temper under control and stop asking so many
questions, all right?”

Nick only nodded. He was in literal shock. Who was this
creepy guy? How come he was so strong? And how did he know
Nick had a kind?

The man folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the
wall, his pale eyes observing him carefully. “I only have one
message for you, Mr. Knight. And I am going to deliver it
whether you like it or not. That is also the only thing I am
going to say to you, so listen carefully.” He pushed away
from the wall and peered into Nick’s face, his voice more
daunting than before. “Dr. Lambert wants something from you,
something you’ve been denying her for a long time. That will
stop right now. Next time she asks you, you will give her
what she wants. Do as she asks.” His eyes, pale and
unblinking, bored into Nick.

The vampire was speechless. He wasn’t sure he had heard
right. Perhaps it wasn’t too bad that this man knew he was a
vampire, and that Tracy was his partner who was shot on duty
today, and that Nat had a friend who had committed suicide…
but now, he was treading into private territories, talking
about things only he and Natalie knew about. He felt a chill
run down his back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know how the
man knew.

Oysn Nobuyuki had turned his back to him and was now walking
away, obviously declaring the conversation over. Nick, still
looking at the wall where the man had been standing just
seconds ago, said, “What do you mean ‘what she wants’? What
does she want?”

Oysn turned. “Simple. She wants you to bring her across.”

Nick ground his teeth. “How do you know that, damn it?”

The man only smiled.

Nick changed the question, trying a different approach in
hope of gaining at least an answer. “Why? Why do you want me
to bring her across? What’s in it for you?”

The man shook his head, saying, “Maybe I didn’t make myself
completely clear. I never said you should bring her across,
even though that’s what she wants. Just bite her and drain
her blood.”

“What?” Nick’s eyes widened. “You want me to…”

“Yes, kill her, Mr. Knight. If possible, drain her twice to
make sure she’s completely dead.”

“Why you son of a…” Nick launched himself at the man, loosing
his temper for the second time that night. Before he knew
what had happened, he found himself up against the wall, the
guy’s shockingly tight grip at his throat and his pale,
wolf-like eyes gazing at him. “I told you to control
yourself, Detective Knight. Looks like you are not the type
that learns quickly.” His eyebrows knotted into a frown.

Nick had trouble breathing. Although the lack of oxygen
didn’t cause him to suffocate, it did make it hard for him to
speak. “What…do you…want? Why…want Natalie…dead?”

“Because *we* want to end it. And this seems to be the only
way to shut them up.” His grip tightened on Nick’s neck,
causing the vampire to wince. Nick was now in real pain. With
a supreme effort, he forced the words out of his constricted
throat, “We…them…who? End…what?”

All at once, Oysn let him go. He watched as Nick slid down to
his knees, crouching against the wall, trying to rub the pain
out of his neck with his hand. Nick heard the man’s voice
over his frantic breathing. “We are the owners of this world.
We are the ones who made you, and have the power to destroy
you. Till now, all you have been doing was what we wanted you
to do and now is the time to stop doing anything at all. It’s
going to end whether you like it or not.” Again, he turned to
go.

“Wait,” Nick called, finding his voice with the last of his
strength. “What if I don’t… do as you tell me?”

The man looked over his shoulder and smiled evilly. “Oh, you
will, Mr. Knight. Believe me, you will. We have the power to
make you.”

Nick slowly climbed to his feet, defiance and some of his
wounded pride coming back and coloring his voice. “Why should
I believe you? Where is the proof of this immeasurable power
you claim you have?”

The man reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a
pencil and a small notebook. He quickly scrawled something on
a page, tore it from the notebook, walked back and handed the
piece of paper to Nick. “Call her,” was all he said before he
turned around and disappeared from the alley. Nick’s dazed
eyes followed him as he left. At last, when the man was gone,
he looked down at the paper in his hand and saw an array of
digits scribbled on it, a phone number. Above it was a single
word, a name, he didn’t need light to make it out.

                      _Janette_

************





LK Confidential (3/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********

“Oui, allo?”

“Janette!”

“Nicolas! Eh…c'est vous?”

“Yes, it’s me. Surprised?”

“How did you find this number?”

“Does the name Oysn Nobuyuki ring a bell?”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, “Where
did you hear that name?”

“From the man himself.”

“Did he come to you?”

“You know him?”

“Doesn’t matter what I know. Did he come to you or not?”

“Yes. He did.”

“What did he want?”

“Uh, not much, just that I kill Natalie.”

“Merde…”

“What? You think that’s a problem?”

“This is no time for jokes, Nicolas, what did you say to
him?”

“Nothing. I got angry, rushed to put him in his place, he put
*me* in my place, which seemed to be the side of a dirty
alley to him, and gave me your phone number to find out who
I’m dealing with.”

“You didn’t promise him that you’ll do it, I mean, that
you’ll kill her, did you?”

“No.”

“And he didn’t order you to do it, did he? Before he left, I
mean?”

“No. Now, are we done with your questions? Is it my turn
now?”

He thought he heard a sigh of relief from the other end of
the line before he heard the quiet “oiu” from his
ex-wife/lover/sister/oldest companion in life.

“All right, first of all, where are you?”

“Paris, of course.”

“Of course. Why did you leave like that? Without even saying
a word.”

“There was nothing left to say. You did what you did and I
did what I was told to do.”

“What you were told to do?”

“No, what I wanted to do. Did I say told?”

“Yes, you said ‘what I was told to do.’ What’s going on,
Janette? Who told you to leave Toronto without saying
anything to either me or LaCroix?”

“No one. I left myself. I was angry with you.”

“Don’t lie to me, Janette. Please, I’ve called you to ask you
the truth. I know something creepy is going on so you don’t
have to hide it from me. Let’s try this again. You were told
to leave Toronto without a word?”

“…oui.”

“By whom?”

“By the same people who told me to leave the first time, who
told me to come back again and search for nameless people. By
the same people who killed Robert and made me mortal.”

“What do you mean? I thought you said arsonists killed Robert
and that you became mortal through his love.”

“That is true, but that, too, was part of their design. They
wanted me out of the picture but it seemed like making me
just leave Toronto wasn’t enough.”

“Janette, would you please explain this a little better to
me? You’re not making any sense.”

She hesitated. Nick prayed the next sound he heard would not
be the click of the receiver as it was put in place. Finally
she seemed to reach a conclusion and she said, “Well, I
assume if it was him who gave you the phone number then he
wants me to tell you the truth. Maybe he considers you
already dead. Anyway, Oysn Nobuyuki is the guy who met me in
Toronto less than two years ago, just before I left. He told
me I had to move on, that they were restructuring the
narrative and my character was somehow in the way.”

“Still not making sense, Janette.”

She sighed, “I know Nicolas, it is still a mystery to me too.
It looks like our lives are all part of this big world that
is being watched by some people in another universe and
belongs to some organization that owns and controls our
destinies. All we’ve seen and done since we’ve been around is
designed by them. I know how this sounds but believe me, mon
coer, it is the truth.”

“I am trying to believe. What about Nobuyuki?”

“Oh, that awful man. He is one of the leaders of that
organization. He came to me on the day I was told to leave
Toronto, told me they needed me out because they wanted to
bring in a new girl. They said we were attracting the wrong
crowd of people, the way we were. It didn’t sound right to me
either.

“I was told to go to a place they had decided for me, later I
found out it was Montreal. I then met Robert and he told me
about the organization and that both of us were in a kind of
hibernation state, that they were certainly planning to do
something with us, with me, otherwise they would have killed
me off. He wasn’t sure what would come next but he wasn’t too
hopeful that it would be anything good. I was a major player
according to the organization, but he was just a Trivial, a
side character. He said they were usually expendable, put
there to be killed to advance the plot. I thought he was
crazy, even though I had already met Nobuyuki.

“When they killed Robert I finally understood. I wished I had
listened to him, not that it would have changed anything.
They would have caught us no matter where we went. Nobuyuki
came to me the next night, saying that they weren’t happy
with the way things were going down. People were still
talking about me, writing about me. They wanted me gone and
it wasn’t working. Their adversaries were insistent and they
never got tired of what they did.”

“Their adversaries? Who are their adversaries? I thought they
had no enemies, powerful as they are.”

“Oh they are powerful, they own everything in our world. But
there are people in the other world who drive them mad.”

“What people?”

“They call them ‘the Poachers,’ Robert used to call them ‘the
Fairy Children,’ something about a myth and some creatures
called the fanfiction fairies, one of his many mysteries I
never understood. He said the more involved we get, the more
we would appear in their stories and the angrier the
organization would get. He said according to what he had
heard, every Poacher who wrote about us took part of the
control away from the organization. So in order to stop that
process they had to either get rid of the Poachers or finish
us. He said the latter was easier since there where many of
them and only a few of us, and we were under their control.
That’s how my fate was sealed.”

“And Robert?”

“Nobody knew about Robert. After I met Nobuyuki he told me
Robert was only there to later explain what I had been doing
all this time. They told me to come back to Toronto and hunt
down the Trivials who had supposedly killed Robert. Then I
had to meet you and tell you I was mortal and we would end up
in a shoot-out that would get me killed by a bullet.”

“But I guess you never thought it would actually happen that
way.”

“I knew that it would exactly happen that way. They own the
damned universe, Nicolas, how many times do I have to tell
you? They control everything.”

“Including you?”

“I made a mistake and agreed with him on one point. When he
asked me if I wanted to be mortal I said yes, a little too
quickly. After that, everything he said was like a rule out
of the Bible. I was to tell you Robert was my lover, I was
supposed to drag you into my criminal games and yes, I was to
die, even ask you to let me die.”

“Why can’t I believe you?”

“Because you are a…a maudit epais, an idiot. Tell me Nicolas,
how many times in our centuries together did you ever hear me
saying I wanted to die? Is that anything even remotely like
me?”

“Then why were you so eager to become mortal when he asked
you? I don’t remember you wanting that either. As a matter of
fact, I remember you getting angry with me that one time I
came to offer you the drug that made me mortal for a day. You
said you weren’t ‘ashamed of who you are.’ What caused the
sudden change of heart?”





LK Confidential (4/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********
He waited a long time but no answer came. The silence was
uncomfortable but it slowly made him realize something he had
never pondered before. He feared Janette would use the delay
to change the subject and he asked the question before that
could happen. “Janette, what was the reason you said you left
Toronto the first time?”

“Because Oysn Nobuyuki told me to.”

“But you also said he couldn’t force you to do anything
unless you agreed to at least one thing that he asked you,
isn’t that true?”

“Yes, that is true.”

“What did you agree to that made you defenseless against the
rest?”

“That I…” Another heartbeat of hesitation. “That I would
leave the city all right, nothing else.”

“Why?”

“Because… because I …”

“You couldn’t bear to see me anymore?”

“…”

“Is that true Janette? Is that why you agreed to leave?”

He could almost imagine her frown and pout, making a rosebud
out of her full, ruby colored lips, and then she grumbled the
answer in a whispered, angry tone. “Yes.”

Now it was his turn to be silent. From experience he knew it
was always better to not say anything when it was her turn to
explain. Asking questions and demanding answers only served
to make her angry and steer the conversation toward another
direction. He kept quiet and waited for the burden of
accusation to become too heavy for her to bear. He didn’t
have to wait too long.

“I never despised you, mon cher, you know that as well as I
do. It is just that I couldn’t watch you injure yourself like
that any longer. I tried; God knows I did, to make you see
that your ways were wrong. But you wouldn’t listen. This
quest of yours, Nicolas, it was killing us all. I couldn’t
take it anymore.”

“Why did you agree to become mortal?”

“I’ve answered enough questions, mon amor. Let’s quit the
interrogation, hm?”

“Janette, I want to know this, why did you want to be
mortal?”

She sighed, defeated. “Because I thought it would be the only
way, for us, to be back together.”

Nick held his breath. “No!”

“Yes, Nicolas. I figured, now that there was no way you would
change your mind about becoming mortal, if I became mortal
myself, you would let me into your life again. I didn’t care
that they gave it the most stupid logic in the world; at
least I could be back with you, and maybe you’d listen to me
once again. I missed you, mon cher.”

“But what about Robert?”

“We never were lovers, just very good friends. After I agreed
to do what that evil man told me to, one of the things he
said was that I should tell everyone Robert was my lover and
that I had become mortal through our lovemaking. He also said
I should not approach you intimately or remind you in any way
that we had once been lovers, that I should be as distant and
aloof as possible. I couldn’t disobey. It was very bad.”

Nick thought he heard muffled sniffing coming from the other
end of the line. He felt sad. Janette had just admitted she
had hoped to get back with him. Suddenly, he missed her too,
very much.

“Janette, I’m sorry it happened that way. I’m glad you stayed
alive. What a horrible thing, to agree to die.”

“It happened because you acted outside the context of your
character. Nobody thought you would bring me across. You
always had issues with that. I guess it also helped that only
one of us was under that man’s evil influence.”

“What should I do now, Janette?”

“Whatever you do, Nicolas, don’t agree with anything. Don’t
let him sweet talk you into accepting any of his offers. The
organization might be high and mighty, but they can’t control
you unless you give them a tiny bit of control yourself.”

“What about Natalie? I think they’ve gotten her already.
She’s become suicidal and thinks her life isn’t worth
anything. What should I do?”

“I don’t think their plan says she would kill herself. I’m
assuming you are the one who is supposed to do it. You said
Oysn told you to kill her, right? I think she will insist you
bite her and then you won’t be able to stop. But listen,
Nicolas, even if it comes to that, don’t leave her to die. Do
what you did for me: bring her across. Then you can both
escape from that place and come here, I’ll give you the
address. I’ve been living here since I last left Toronto and
they have never come to bother me. Seems like they have
accepted what came out of our little, improvised act. Maybe
they’ll accept this one too.”

“I’ll make sure I remember that. Thank you, Janette. You
helped me a lot.”

“Oh, Nicolas. Anytime, mon couer. You know how I feel about
you.”

“Janette, about what you said…”

“Shhh, mon amor. We’ll talk about it when you get here. Just
make sure you leave that city in one piece. You’ve been there
for too long.”

“Hehe, of course, Janette. I’ll make sure of that even though
I don’t see why you should be worried about me. It’s not my
life that is in danger. I’m the killer, remember?”

“I know that, but Robert said they always plot their schemes
together, in a way that everything happens in a very short
time, something like a chain reaction that makes it more
believable. They might be plotting your death with someone
else even as we speak. You’d better watch your back.”

“Don’t worry, Janette. At least we know it won’t happen until
I’ve killed Natalie. And I’m not going to kill her. I’ll make
sure I do my best to break the chain.”

“You do that, love. I’ll wait for you to call me back. If
something unexpected happens, just take whatever you can and
come to Rue Saint-Gilles 7535, Paris. I’ll be here waiting
for you. Be careful, chéri.”

“You too, Janette. Talk to you soon,” Nick said as he
finished writing the address on a piece of paper.

“Bye, Nicolas.”

“Bye, oh, and Janette.”

“Oui?”

“I love you too.”

She made a little sound that he remembered from their past.
When he hung up the phone and put the paper in a safe place,
he noticed he was grinning.




LK Confidential (5/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********
He was driving back from the Raven when he saw the car. There
was nothing special about it, just an ordinary Toyota Sienna.
But it cut in front of him and started flashing its lights.
Nick could see the back of the balding head from the rear
window and knew who was driving. The Toyota slowed down a
bit, forcing the Caddy to decelerate as well. When Nick saw
the car signal to turn right, he stayed behind it and turned
into the dark alley. They ended up at another bar.

Nick was wondering where to park the car when a valet showed
up and took the keys from him. Oysn only looked at him once
before handing his own keys to the other valet and heading
for the bar. Nick hated the way he was being treated, but
after talking to Janette, and his meeting with LaCroix, he
knew this man was not someone to mess around with. He
followed him to the entrance of the bar.

To his surprise, the man turned left at the entrance and
walked toward a foyer with an elevator at the far end. He
pressed the button and stood to the side when the twin doors
slid open, allowing Nick to go in first. Nick felt as if he
was riding up to his execution as the elevator slowly
ascended to the next floor carrying its silent occupants.

Finally the lift stopped and the doors opened to a well-lit
room. Nick immediately concluded that it must be a private
suite not accessible to all people. He saw his host move to
put his coat on a rack and then walk up to a small, stylish
bar at the other side of the room. “Please make yourself at
home, Detective Knight.” By the time he came back with the
drinks Nick was sitting on one of the easy chairs, his coat
draped over the back.

Oysn handed him a glass of blood mixed with wine and sat
down, holding his own glass of scotch between short, chubby
fingers.

“So tell me, Detective Knight, did you talk to her?”

Nick didn’t answer. He was aware that they were alone; no one
had followed them on the elevator or into the room. He wasn’t
sure about the hall outside but he could guess that most
likely, there was only a number of staff around. Oysn never
had a bodyguard, not even when he was having a vampire as his
guest. Nick wasn’t sure about any firearms but even if the
man was carrying one, it would be of little use against a
vampire. He wondered about his chances of breaking his host’s
neck, just to see if any of this was true.

“I wouldn’t think about it,” the other man said as he took a
casual sip from his drink.

Nick didn’t even bother to show surprise at the man’s
mind-reading powers. In fact, he hadn’t been surprised at
anything since he had met this awful, arrogant devil of a
man. Not even seeing LaCroix packed and ready to leave
Toronto without any previously discussed plans -- or his
threat to leave his son behind if he didn’t make up his mind.
All he had thought of after hearing that was the way it had
finally become clear how it would end: he was supposed to
kill Natalie and then, he and LaCroix were to move on, never
to be heard of again. Well, not if he could help it. He eyed
the man contemptuously as he put the glass on the coffee
table in front of him. He silently promised himself not to
let them do to him what they did to Janette.

Oysn put his drink down as well and sat back. “Have you
reached a decision yet about what I asked you?” he said.

“Yes,” Nick replied, “I have decided not to do it.”

Oysn exhaled in a way that was something between a sigh and a
puff. He shoved his hands in his pant pockets and said, “So
what are you going to do?”

Nick looked up, eyes shining. “Everything I can do to stop
this evil plan of yours, like refusing to do anything
unlawful as I did for so long. I won’t let our nice little
world be shattered by the likes of you. Not now, not ever.
I’ll just continue living the way I did.”

Oysn snorted. “You are a fool to believe that things are
going to stay the same. Didn’t you notice the change in your
friends? We’ve got them all, you have no choice.”

“I have a choice. I can leave before it happens.”

“And abandon dear Natalie to our tender mercies? How do you
know that is not exactly what we want?”

“You won’t touch her. I will take her with me.”

Oysn leaned forward, looking deeply into Nick’s eyes. “Don’t
you understand, Nick? We already have her; she is changed.
She won’t go with you unless you fulfill her wish.”

“I won’t kill her or bring her across, if that’s what you
mean. I will take her away from you and your filthy plans.
Soon she’ll be well again, and when she’s finally freed from
whatever you have brainwashed her with, I will explain
everything to her.”

The other man took a long look at him. Nick met his eyes
squarely, not willing to give up the fight, not knowing what
this messenger from hell would do next.

“You seem to care about her very much,” the man finally said.

“I do. But I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that,
would you?”

“No I wouldn’t. And why should I? None of you really exist.
You are just figments of imagination.”

“Then why do you guys get your feathers so ruffled when it
comes to the Poachers?”

Oysn snarled, “Because you are figments of *our* imagination.
You belong to *us.* We won’t let some amateur romance-novel
junkie take our idea and run with it. We protect our assets.”

“Oh yes, I see that. And when you get tired of ‘your assets,’
you just throw them into the next dumpster.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we do. Listen to me, my dear
Detective Knight. Your time is up. People these days no
longer want to see a brooding vampire lusting over an
isolated, career-driven woman unless the vampire goes
bare-chested at least half a dozen times and the woman is a
skinny, blonde chick. Today’s viewer doesn’t want to see a
quest for morality, or mortality, or a struggle with inner
demons or any of that nonsense. Sex, violence and naked
women. That’s what viewers want to see. And we’re sorry you
don’t have that.” He picked up his drink and tossed it down
his throat in one quick motion.

Nick didn’t know what to say. What could one really say to
someone who said he was your creator and now didn’t want you
anymore? He smirked, _and I thought LaCroix was the poster
child for bad parenting._ He flexed his fingers, remembering
something in the man’s last sentence, and asked the next
question. “Is that why you brought in Tracy?”

The Asian had taken a cigar out of his coat pocket and was
lighting it with a lighter. “Partly. Yes. She was blonde,
thin, sexy. She just had to play the role of the scared bimbo
next to your heroic champion, and make love to the Spanish
fang-boy.”

“But then, you killed them both.”

“They weren’t playing the role right. Fang-boy seemed to care
more about that raggedy rat-sucking friend of his than the
beautiful Ms. Vetter. Ms. Vetter, on the other hand, got too
caught up with being a ‘good cop’ to remember that she was
really just there to be ‘good eye candy.’ And her
relationship with the Spaniard wasn’t going anywhere
intimately, at least not soon enough for us to make any
profit. We had to get rid of them both.”

“And what now? Are you saying it is our turn?”

The man nodded dispassionately, tapping some ash onto the
carpet. “It is your turn. We’re pulling the plug. Sorry to
have to tell you that.”

Nick was furious. Not only did the whole thing not make any
sense, the reasons the man was giving for ending their lives,
too, sounded narrow-minded and forced. He really wanted to
meet this audience this man was referring to. Who were these
people that were so shallow and dumb?

Forget that, he told himself, forget all of this, there is no
parallel universe, no audience, no children of the fairies or
whatever the heck Janette called those “Poachers,” he had to
finish dealing with this man and head out to save his
friends. Bring Natalie and LaCroix to their senses; see if he
could still save Tracy. As far as he was concerned, this
conversation was over.

He looked at Oysn, a smirk appearing on his face. “I have to
ask you, Mr. Nobuyuki, did it by any chance occur to you that
it might not be the brightest idea to tell me all this? How
can you expect me to do what you want after you’ve
specifically told me who you are, and what you have in mind?”

“I wouldn’t have been this expectant if I ever thought you
had a choice. Let me put it this way, Detective, you _will_
do as you are told, whether you want it or not.”

Nick just snickered, although deep inside, he was beginning
to feel rather unsettled. This man couldn’t force him to do
anything, could he? Nick didn’t like the idea of not knowing
what might happen if he said no.

“You want your partner to live, don’t you?” Oysn suddenly
said. Nick’s eyes sharpened at that. What? A new trick?

“Of course I want her to live. Are you saying you will keep
her around if I agree to let you wipe out the rest of us?”

“It is possible. We can make her ‘not die’ in the end. The
Poachers wouldn’t be that much interested in writing about
her when everyone else is gone. She wouldn’t have anyone to
play with. We can spare one life.”





LK Confidential (6/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********
Nick looked at the man in front of him through slitted eyes
and for the thousandth time, thought about what it would feel
like to simply reach over and kill him with bare hands. But
then, he remembered their encounter in the alley behind the
club the night before and had to let it drop. Already he
could see a knowing glint in the other man’s eyes.

“No,” he finally said, “I don’t believe you’re telling the
truth. I’m not stupid, and I won’t make any deals with the
devil.”

“Hah!” Nobuyuki laughed, a cutting, bitter sound that sliced
through Nick’s brain like a cold, slick blade. He fought the
icy feeling that ran through his body as the man’s wintry
eyes came to rest upon him, the unhealthy glow coming from
their depths making the man truly look like the devil that he
was.

“Tell me, Detective Knight,” came the spine-tingling voice,
“Do you believe in faith?”

“Faith?” Nick tried hard not to choke on the word. Nobuyuki’s
new, creepy behavior was making him increasingly nervous.

“Yes, faith. You have probably talked about this topic too,
right? You and Dr. Lambert?”

“No, as a matter of fact, we haven’t,” Nick answered curtly.

“But you will, won’t you? If she asks you about your faith,
if she asks you to talk about it, you will, won’t you?”

“Yes,” Nick replied, a little too sharply, now feeling
extremely uneasy under the other man’s gaze.

“And if she asks you to have faith in her, to trust her, what
would you say? Would you do it, would you trust her?”

It felt as if the man’s eyes were piercing his skull. He felt
a headache like he hadn’t experienced ever before. He rubbed
his face and said, “I will…I don’t know. I guess, yes, I
would trust her.”

“Will you make love to her? Will you try Janette’s cure if
she asks you to?” It seemed like the voice was echoing all
around the room. Nick started breathing hard.

“Janette’s cure? But she said it was…I think….” He blinked,
not sure what was happening to him.

_Don’t agree with anything he says. Don’t say yes to anything
he orders you to do._

Nick’s eyes opened wide in shock. He hadn’t accepted, had he?
Oh God, what had happened? Did he say yes to anything this
crazy man had asked him?

“And if she wants you to bite her, to bring her across, will
you do it?”

Nick was powerless to stop the words as they spilled out of
his mouth. “Y-yes, I will do it.”

Oysn stood up, a crooked smile appearing on his face. Like a
cobra having the prey finally under its spell, he approached
the wide-eyed vampire.

“And if I tell you to drain her, to kill her permanently
instead, would you do it?”

Nick felt his body shaking with the effort of trying to
resist the sudden rush of acceptances, the unexpected urge to
agree to anything the monster told him to do. He knew it was
a losing battle. Red tinged sweat broke over his brow as he
replied once again, “Y-y-y-yes-sss, I – will - kill – h-her.
Drink her blood. Drain her.”

Oysn grinned from ear to ear. A joker kind of smile that made
his face look like it was split in two. It made Nick shudder
even more. It was done; it was over. He didn’t even know how
it had happened.

And from that point on, “yes” became a mantra on his lips.

::Will you refuse to bring her across even after she is
drained?::

::Will you tell your master about what you have done?::

::Will you ask him to kill you?::

::Will you hand him the staff and tell him to plunge it
through your heart?::

::Will you stay still over her body until it’s done?::

By the time he was dismissed by the man and escorted by one
of the servants to the elevator and down to his car, he was
handed and had agreed to a complete plan that lead to his
utter self-destruction. In a way, he had signed his death
warrant along with Natalie’s by saying yes to every deadly,
mad idea the vile man had forced upon him.

Yet what was even scarier was the fact that he was actually
going to go through with it all.

************

“Don’t be foolish Nicholas,” LaCroix whispered as he held the
stake limply in his hands.

_Don’t throw your life away, don’t do what all these helpless
others have done._

_You have a choice._

_Or do you?_

LaCroix looked down at his hunched-over, kneeling son with
sad, heavy eyes. Not far from him lay the body of Dr. Natalie
Lambert, prone, drained and on the brink of crossing to the
place of no return. He clutched the stake tightly, not
looking at it but at Nicholas instead. Was there any way he
could change the flow of things? Did he have the power to
break the demon’s spell on his most favorite child?

Nicholas had not succeeded in saving Natalie, and had lost
his own spirit in the process. Now was his turn, standing
there, waiting to pull the last plug that would shut down
this entire constitution. He didn’t think he had the
strength.

Not like this. Not with Nicholas being the one to die at his
hand.

Of course Nobuyuki had known. That’s why he had paid him a
visit very early on. LaCroix understood now, how it had been
the force behind his decision to move on, without any
incentive, and even the threat to leave Nicholas behind.
Nicholas! Who was the reason he had chosen to take residence
in this city in the first place, who was the reason for more
than half of his actions in life. He hadn’t known he was
under influence until Janette had called. Her timing couldn’t
have been more perfect.

::You must stop this madness, LaCroix. You must not let them
get what they want::

She had explained to him everything. LaCroix’s mind was
ancient; her simple logic was enough to wipe away most of the
poison the evil man had infected him with. And from that
clarity, his myriad questions had been raised.

::How can we stop them?::

::We can’t. They have too much control and their decisions
are final.::

::So what is the point of you telling me all this?::

::I like to believe that you still have a choice; you are our
only hope. If you refrain from doing the last, fatal deed,
then at least we won’t disappear. The Fairy Children will
pick up were it was left off. We will live through their
stories.::

::And if I do as I’m told?::

::Then all will be lost. The muses are powerful, but even
they can not bring anyone back from the death.::

Since when had Janette become the voice of wisdom? Everything
was wrong with the world.

And so here he stood, stake in hand, not knowing what to do.
How could he stop something that he knew was out of his
control? What could he do to prevent this awful, terrible
ending? All he could think of at the time was to slip into
the role of the Nightcrawler, and to deliver one of his
infamous monologues. Hoping that it will break through the
thick fog of Nicholas’ mind and somehow bring him to his
senses.

Or at least, buy them more time.





LK Confidential (7/7)
By Sunny LaCountess<countessa2000@yahoo.com>

**********

“Life is a gift, as sweet as the freshest peach…”

He knew it was hopeless even before he had finished the
speech. He could see Natalie Lambert breathing her last
breaths, and Nicholas was just kneeling there, waiting for
his execution. Suddenly, Oysn’s leering face appeared in his
mind and the sudden surprise of its appearance shook him like
a jolt. Even more strangely, he could feel the slight
tingling in his arms as they moved on their own, slowly, to
raise the stake high over his head, ready for the strike.

_No,no,no,no,no_ he screamed to himself over and over again.
_I will not do it. I will not end it like this. I will not._

Frantically he tried to think of a conclusion that would
salvage the situation. Something else, anything but this…

_He lowered the stake and threw it across the room._

_He put the ugly piece of wood over his knee and snapped it
in one swift, sinuous motion_

_He fled the place, never to come back._

LaCroix closed his eyes. Nicholas, Nicholas. Why must it be
you? Why must it be me? Am I truly your closest friend? Did
you really mean what you said or was it the Nobuyuki-devil
speaking?

And then, all of a sudden, he recognized the inkling.
Nicholas. He had told him. It might have been just a flash of
awareness before his son’s mind was again clouded by whatever
that monster had implanted in it. But he had known what
LaCroix would do, and what he wouldn’t. He had said it to his
face.

“You are my closest friend.”

Nicholas had given him the answer. Even dazed and grief
stricken, his child had proven his strength. Nicholas had
given LaCroix a choice, put the problem squarely in his hand
and then, reminded him of who he really was. “Not the devil.”
No matter what they said, no matter how they tried to sketch
LaCroix’s character in the audience’s minds. LaCroix was not
a bad guy. He was not the devil.

He would not pierce his favorite son’s heart with a stake
when he was kneeling helpless and broken on the floor.

A smile graced the ancient vampire’s lips. Oh, my child. How
did you know? Even now you are one step ahead of me, even in
the end.

“Damn you Nicholas!” he whispered, not without a hint of
pride.

He stayed like that, poised, waiting, a Roman statue, leaving
the rest to the Fairy Children.

And thought about sunrise.

*************

Oysn Nobuyuki was over the clouds in his private luxury jet
when he received the call. He liked to doze off during his
flights and was ticked off when the stewardess handed him the
phone.

“Oysn here.”

“Nobuyuki, are you on the plane? You think you are done?”

“Yes and yes. We are pulling the plug tomorrow.”

“Are we? Then you’d better listen to the latest news. The old
man didn’t do it.”

He sat upright and passed the phone to the other hand. “What
did you say? He didn’t?”

“No, he just stood there and held the stick, and the bright,
beautiful sun rose over the city, yada yada yada. Now you can
go ahead and pull that damn plug, Oysn.”

“And if I do?”

“Oh yeah? You can bet your eight million dollar private jet
the Poachers are writing about this as we speak. It will
become another Blake’s Seven and go on until our
grandchildren grow old. All thanks to you.”

Oysn’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you are blaming me?”

“No, Oysn. I am not blaming you, they are, the board and the
big guys. You’d better come here soon and clean up the mess
you’ve made or your stuff will be out the door before you are
in. The board is already discussing hiring new lawyers for
copyright related cases.”

“I’m getting there as fast as I can. Don’t call me again, ok?
I need some sleep.”

“Go ahead, buddy. Have a nice snooze. Hope you won’t dream
about those Poachers ruining the million-dollar career you’ve
built yourself with all your nastiness and lies and blackmail
and all the rest of your good traits.” The smirk in the voice
was too obvious to be ignored.

Oysn shut the phone off angrily. For a moment, he
contemplated making another call, but then he dismissed the
idea. The situation demanded taking more serious action.
“Tell the pilot we’re no longer going to Aruba,” he called to
the stewardess. “ Tell him he should change course to New
York City and the headquarters’ landing field.”

As the plane tilted to turn, Oysn closed his eyes and leaned
his head against the back of the seat. He cursed under his
breath, his mind forming the picture a woman -- an ordinary
person with an ordinary life, not much money, and a small
house -- sitting at her computer late at night, typing
rapidly on the keyboard as a story appeared on the screen
line after line, telling what happened next…

_The room echoed with silence.  Morning.  The sunlight pushed
its way into the room and made it glow with the day's first
golden light._          -Dorothy Elggren   “All The Rest Is Silence”

_Natalie glanced at Nick sleeping at her side.  He looked
different somehow.  She puzzled over it for a moment, then
she realized that Nick actually looked peaceful._
-Arletta Asbury   “The Apartment and What Happens Next"

_Tracy woke up in pain. She was lying on something cold and
hard, it was dark and she was naked. Never a good way to
start your day. _               -Cousin Mary Jenkins  “Survivors”

_Nick closed his eyes, waiting to feel the stake plunge
through his back. Somewhere in the distance he heard his
phone ring and his answering machine pick up._
-Emma Lighton   “Next Evening”

_He'd nearly killed her. If she hadn't screamed, hadn't found
the resister's strength to somehow push him away..._            -Jean
Graham   “A State of Grace”

_Another city, another job. Another life._
-Darrel E. Murphy, Jr.  “Endless Tragedy”

_Darkness faded slowly, infinitesimally, into twilight
grey... he blinked, and as his eyes became accustomed to the
sudden small glow of light, memory flooded back to him..._
- Imajiru  “Nobody Dies. Nobody Ever Dies.”

_Nick saw the raised stake and suddenly had second thoughts.
"Don't!" he shouted at LaCroix. LaCroix smiled and lowered
the stake._             -Judith Freudenthal   “A New Future”

_LaCroix hadn't staked him. He knew that from the throbbing
headache that woke him up..._           -Nancy W. Bonilla   “And
They Lived Happily Ever After”

_And as the sun rose over the Toronto skyline, a small plane
vanished into the horizon, not been seen by anyone. Life
started as usual, like it had every other day before._
-Sunny LaCountess    “LK Confidential”

Finis

Sunny LaCountess
October,2002

http://www.lacountess.com/FKnight/
Stories: http://www.lacountess.com/FKnight/Stories.htm